Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Don't Miss Kim-An Lieberman coming to an event near you
Reading and book signing for Breaking the Map, in the hometown of Blue Begonia Press.
Apr. 10: Yakima Valley Comm. College Yakima, WA - 7 p.m.
Reading sponsored by the YVCC English Department and Creative Writing classes.
Apr. 18: Brave New Words Poetry Festival Whidbey Island, WA - 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.A full day of poetry, music, food, and wine at Greenbank Farm. Reading with Terry Martin and many others.
Apr. 24: Shoreline-LFP Poetry Celebration Shoreline, WA - 7:30 p.m.Reading at Shoreline Community College, with Kathleen Flenniken and Ed Harkness.
May 21: Jack Straw Reading Series Seattle, WA - 7:00 p.m."Borders and Confluence": reading with Rachel Dilworth, Alma Garcia, and Laura Hirschfield.
Jun. 18: KOBO Gallery at Higo Seattle, WA - 7:00 p.m.Reading with Priscilla Long and Madeline Ostrander, in the former home of Higo Variety Store.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
An Invitation
Call for Book Manuscripts
Blue Begonia Press, independent publisher of poetry for thirty years, is accepting submissions of full-length manuscripts for publication in 2008 from poets residing in Washington State who have never published a full-length poetry book. (Chapbooks OK). We’re looking for well-crafted work that transcends the page, that moves us, that takes our breath away—poems of meditation, testimony, praise, exploration, protest, reflection, witness. Collaborative design process. Poet receives publication, 30 copies, regional distribution/promotion of book, and assistance scheduling/advertising featured readings. Deadline March 31, 2008. Send manuscript with cover sheet, title page, paginated table of contents, acknowledgments, #10 SASE for results, and $20 reading fee in form of check made out to Blue Begonia Press. Reading fee includes one copy of the book selected for publication. For complete submission guidelines and more information about Blue Begonia Press visit www.bluebegoniapress.com
Submission Guidelines:
Washington residents only.
Simultaneous submissions OK. (Please notify us immediately if manuscript is accepted elsewhere).
Individual poems may have been previously published. (If so, identify in Acknowledgments).
Cover sheet - one loose page with the following information: title of manuscript, author name, address, home and work telephone numbers, e-mail address.
Bound manuscript, including Title Page, paginated Table of Contents, and Acknowledgments.
$20 reading fee. Checks made out to Blue Begonia Press. All entrants will receive one copy of the book selected for publication.
Include #10 self-addressed, stamped envelope for notification of results.
Mail to:
Blue Begonia Press: Poetry Manuscripts
225 S. 15th Avenue
Yakima, WA 98902
Questions? Contact: Terry Martin at martint@cwu.edu
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Upcoming Readings for Jenifer Browne Lawrence
Fish (Poems) on the Sidewalk
Marine Science Center Fundraiser
Liberty Bay Books
18881 D Front St Downtown Poulsbo
http://www.libertybaybooks.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp
jeniferbrownelawrence@comcast.net
October 23, 7:00 p.m.
Crab Creek Review
Reading with Janet Knox, John Davis, Kevin Miller, Jenifer Browne Lawrence & others
Richard Hugo House
1634 Eleventh Avenue
Seattle, WA
http://www.hugohouse.org/house/map/
editors@crabcreekreview.org
November 7, 7:30p.m.
Poetry in Motion!
Poetry on the Buses
Moore Theater
1932 Second Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98107
Paige.Weinheimer@4culture.org
www.4culture.org
TEL 206 296.8605
November 11, 2:00 p.m.
Na-No-Rhyme-Oh! Poetry Reading
Madeline DeFrees, Jennifer Maier & Jenifer Browne Lawrence
Barnes & Noble Booksellers
401 NE Northgate Way Suite 1100
Seattle, WA. 98125
crm2280@bn.com
http://www.bn.com/
November 18, 3:00 p.m.
Jewel Box Poets Sunday Reading Series
Windfall Journal Poets
Bill Siverly, Michael McDowell, Mary Lou Sanelli, Jenifer Browne Lawrence & others
Jewel Box Theater
225 Iverson Street
Poulsbo, WA 98370
http://www.jewelboxpoulsbo.org/
jewelboxpoets@comcast.net
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Saturday Oct 13th at Inklings
Blue Begonia Press
Introduces Jody Aliesan's new book
True North/Nord Vrai
"Old Irish fragment: The poet is the wick in the lamp of the community. Not the oil, and not the flame, but the simple piece of cloth connecting them so the people can see their own light."
Reading & discussion from True North/Nord Vrai
Gail Pearlman & Jim Bodeen
Inklings Bookshop
Chalet Mall
56th & Summitview
Saturday, October 13, 2007, 4:00 PM
Friday, September 21, 2007
True North/Nord Vrai
B l u e B e g o n i a P r e s s , I n c .
Jody Aliesan's True North/Nord Vrai has just been released from Blue Begonia Press.
Jody's story, and the story of the book are compelling in many of the ways that the book is compelling.
Blue Begonia Press stretches out believing in the larger story Jody carries. Here's part of the story.
Jody Aliesan left the US three years ago. We expect that her longtime readers in the Pacific Northwest and farther afield will be interested in knowing what she's doing now, both personally and in her writing. A library service in New York ordered copies of True North/Nord Vrai immediately after we registered it with the Library of Congress. University Book Store in Seattle posted the book online two months ago and is collecting orders. Last week we received a request from a professor of political science in Tennessee who heard of the book word of mouth. Canadians have become aware of Aliesan's presence in their midst; without our approaching them, the Vancouver public library and the city's independent and chain bookstores already offer her most recent books. Aliesan has said she will not be crossing the border south again and that True North/Nord Vrai is such an exposure that personal appearances would be excessive. We will market her reticence and principle to pique curiosity and to focus readers on the book itself.
It can be ordered directly from the press, at http://bluebegoniapress.com/
Jim Bodeen, President
(509) 452-9748
Jody Aliesan: True North/Nord Vrai
186pp, 7"x 9" trade softcover
ISBN: 0-911287-58-2
$18.00 USD
Excerpts at http://bluebegoniapress.com/index.php?page_id=316
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
LitFuse Scholarships
LitFuse 2007: A Poet's Workshop
Tieton Arts & Humanities announces LitFuse 2007: A Poet's Workshop. This 2-day workshop to be held November 3-4 in Tieton, WA (15 minutes west of Yakima), features hands-on letterpress printing opportunities, Susan Rich (winner of the PEN/USA Poetry Award and Peace Corps Writers' Award, among others), Kathleen Flenniken (winner of the Prairie Schooner Book award), poetry rooted in place by Dan Peters, a special narrated screening of Voices in Wartime, Cody Walker & Paul Nelson's astonishing teaching, and a murder of your fellow poets itching to channel the MUSE. All in a hilltop rural setting guaranteed to inspire. Check it out at www.mightytieton.com to register, or email litfuse@mightytieton.com for more information.
Here's my summary:
- Mighty Tieton, an arts organization, is an incredible group of people.
- I'm teaching (Dan Peters) two workshops at this conference—one on poetry of place, including some outside work around the town of Tieton; another on poetry and art using the Mighty Tieton collection, which is incredible.
- The headliner, Susan Rich, as you can see from her bio, is a well known and respected poet and teacher. We're fortunate to have her come to this workshop.
- There's an interesting option of learning the art of "letterpress" work—that is publishing using handset type and fine papers. I think the idea is that you'd come away with a broadside of your own.
- The two day workshop is pricey, ($200 if you register before October) but I think it's worth it. The people at Mighty Tieton are legit and hoping to make it a place for collaboration among all the arts. They've got a huge start on the visual arts, and are dipping their toes in the water on the literary arts with this weekend.
- Finally, part of my negotiation with the board of Mighty Tieton was that I be able to offer some scholarships to local writers. So, I've got four $50 dollar scholarships available. First come first serve. I'll set a deadline of September 28th.
- If I only get two people interested, it will be a $100 dollar scholarship.
- If only one person is interested, it's a full ride.
- I realize this varied amount might make a big difference to your level of interest, so for starters, drop me an email if you're interested in any level of help with going to the workshops and after the 28th, I'll email back those who expressed interest and we'll try to figure out how much you need and how much has been claimed.
- If I only get two people interested, it will be a $100 dollar scholarship.
Featured Artist: Susan Rich, winner of the PEN USA Poetry Award & the Peace Corps Writers Poetry Award for The Cartographer's Tongue: Poems of the World (White Pine Press, 2000). Susan has worked as a staff person for Amnesty International, an electoral supervisor in Bosnia, and a human rights trainer in Gaza. She lived in the Republic of Niger, West Africa as a Peace Corps Volunteer, later moving to South Africa to teach at the University of Cape Town on a Fulbright Fellowship. Educated at the University of Massachusetts, Harvard University, and the University of Oregon, Susan lives in Seattle and teaches at Highline Community College and the Antioch University MFA Program in LA. She is an alum of Cottages at Hedgebrook, and an editor at Floating Bridge Press.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
100 Steps Review in the Seattle Times
In the title poem, a family waits outside the emergency room where a daughter undergoes treatment after being hit by a car. Three sisters assemble a puzzle, as if putting the pieces together will also put their lives together: "We build the trees from the green down to wheat / and there is nothing left but sky." Then the door swings open, the doctor enters, and they learn that the last pieces will never fit.
In the poems that follow, various family members try to make sense of the world, but the shock waves of their loss are an earthquake that brings everything down. In "Sweeping the Sky," a moment that could bring people together becomes a drama of separation:
I haven't told her Dad's last words,
Where's your mother? Nor how, as though it were
the truth, I told him he would see her in the
morning,
that she'd gone home before it got too dark to see.
He turned his face to keep me from seeing.
In the gloom of Lawrence's poems, there is a compensatory light — the illumination of how real people confront loss.
Richard Wakefield is the author of "East of Early Winters," a poetry collection published by the University of Evansville Press. He lives in Federal Way.
Terry Martin Reading at YVCC
Upcoming Readings for Terry Martin and The Secret Language of Women
December 13 Northwinds ArtCenter, Pt. Townsend
January ? (TBA) SoulFood Books Poetry Series, Redmond
February 12 CWU Lions Rock Reading Series, Ellensburg
April 18 A Room of One's Own Bookstore, Madison, WI
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Upcoming Readings for Jenifer Lawrence and 100 Steps
Saturday March 31, 2007, 7:30 p.m. Elliott Bay Books, 101 South Main St, Seattle. (206) 624-6600.
Saturday, May 19, 2007, 4:00 p.m. Newberry Books, 561 NE Ravenna Blvd., Seattle. PoetsWest features Chris Jarmick, David Keysor, Jenifer Browne Lawrence. Open mike. MC Robinson Bolkum. Contact J. Glenn Evans 206.682.1268 or info@poetswest.com.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007, 7:30 p.m Yakima Valley Community College, Writers and Ideas Series. Parker Room of the Deccio Building. dpeters@yvcc.edu
Saturday, June 2, 2007, 7:00 p.m., Poulsbohemian Coffeehouse, 19003 Front St, Poulsbo, WA (360) 779-9199 email
Saturday, June 9, 2007, 6 p.m. Village Books, 1200 Eleventh Street, Bellingham, WA 98225 Tel: (360) 671-2626
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
List of Readings for Terry Martin in the coming months
Pt. Townsend (at Northwinds Gallery) on Thurs Feb 8th at 7:00.
Wapato Book Club on Tuesday, February 13th at 7:00.
Pt. Angeles (at Peninsula College) at noon on Tuesday March 6th.
Spokane (at Auntie's Bookstore) on Friday April 6th at 7:30.
Whidbey Island (at Wa Poets Association Burning Word Poetry Festival)
Saturday, April 28th.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Welcome
Welcome to Blue Begonia News & Calendar.
If you are interested in the Blue Begonia website, with the complete catalogue and ordering information, visit bluebegoniapress.com.
For first time visitors, this site started in 2005. It was a way to get the word out about Weathered Pages, an anthology of poems left on the poetry pole at Blue Begonia Press, and two fine chapbooks released at the same time by Keely Murphy and Doug Johnson, continuing the Working Signs Series from Blue Begonia Press.
In the past year, two more books have been released by the press: One Hundred Steps from Shore, by Poulsbo poet Jenifer Browne Lawrence and The Secret Language of Women by Yakima poet and CWU professor, Terry Martin.
If you scroll down the page, you’ll see recent posts including a schedule of upcoming readings, video previews of the two most recent books along with sample reviews. I’ve also included a few select videos from the Writers and Ideas class I’ve taught at YVCC the past two years. To see the incredible work students have done in response to these reading and lectures, and for more videos, click here.
If you are interested in going back further, or finding information not seen on this first page, use the links under “Archives” on the right side of the screen.
Feel free to leave a comment, or send me an email.
The Secret Language of Women
| Terry Martin reads from her new book, "The Secret Language of Women". Terry's book has been getting amazing reviews. Click here to see her first, from Midwest Review. Click here to see the latest, from World Pulse Magazine. For more information or to purchase visit http://bluebegoniapress.com/ | |
One Hundred Steps from Shore
| Jenifer Browne Lawrence reading Red Shrine from her debut book from Blue Begonia Press for more information and to order, visit Blue Begonia Press *Correction to the credits: Cover Design by Craig Naugle. Jenifer's book is already a best seller on the west side and has been attracting attention from a national audience. Click here for a review from Rattle. | |
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Another Great Review for The Secret Language
The Secret Language of Women
| Blue Begonia Press, 2006 | USA
With vast empathy and unwavering emotional honesty, this Washington poet gives words to the weighty, intangible truths behind human behavior. Inhabited almost exclusively by female characters, The Secret Language of Women celebrates the nuanced ways in which women bypass verbal language to communicate emotion, share among themselves, and pass deep pools of knowledge through generations. In the architecture of this volume-in the kitchen, the garden, the bedroom, the hospital, and in nature—they are called by their surroundings to turn inward and courageously speak of strengths, weaknesses, and searing, long-muffled truths—a process that Martin clearly prizes for its delivery unto grace and gratitude.—Maria Jett
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Terry and Jenifer on the Road to...
Saturday, January 13, 2007, 8 p.m. Richard Hugo House, Jenifer and Terry. New Voices from Blue Begonia Press. Co-sponsored by the Richard Hugo House. 1634 11th Ave, Seattle, WA (206) 322-7030. http://www.hugohouse.org/events/ email programs2@hugohouse.org
Sunday, January 28, 2007, 7:30ish, Sirens Pub & Restaurant 832 Water Street, Port Townsend, WA. Jenifer will be joining her favorite group of Fort Worden diehard writers for a weekend retreat, culminating in an open mic pub invasion. Stop by Sunday evening for a beer and a poem if you’re in town.
Thursday, February 8, 2007, 7 p.m. Northwind Arts Center. Jenifer and Terry. Northwinds Art Center, 2409 Jefferson St, Port Townsend, WA (360) 379-1086. http://www.northwindarts.org/poetry.html
Thursday, February 15, 2007, 7 p.m. SoulFood Poetry Night, Jenifer reading with Dan Peters. SoulFood Books, 15748 Redmond Way, Redmond, WA 98052 (425) 881-5309 Redmond, WA http://soulfood.booksense.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp email info@soulfoodbooks.com
Tuesday, March 6, 2007, Noon, Foothills Writers Series, Jenifer and Terry. Reading held in the Little Theater, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd
Port Angeles, WA 98362 (360) 452-9277 http://www.pc.ctc.edu/news/foothills.asp email tinah@pcadmin.ctc.edu
Saturday, May 19, 2007 at 4:00 p.m. Newberry Books, 561 NE Ravenna Blvd., Seattle. PoetsWest features Chris Jarmick, David Keysor, Jenifer Browne Lawrence. Open mike. MC Robinson Bolkum. Contact J. Glenn Evans 206.682.1268 or info@poetswest.com.
Saturday, June 2, 2007, 7 p.m., Jenifer at the Poulsbohemian Coffeehouse, 19003 Front St, Poulsbo, WA (360) 779-9199 http://homepages.donobi.net/pbch/ email carriegilstrap-nettle@bbwc.biz
Friday, December 22, 2006
The Secret Language of Women, First Review
from the Midwest Review
The Secret Language of Women
Terry Martin
Blue Begonia Press
224 South 15th Avenue, Yakima, WA 98902-3821
0911287574 $15.00
www.bluebegoniapress.com
English teacher and published poet Terry Martin presents The Secret Language of Women, an anthology of free-verse poetry that reexamines domestic life from the feminine perspective, reflects upon the sad fragility of all things, and explores innermost hopes and dreams. A gentle, reflective, and insightful whisper into the true meanings behind the building blocks of language. "Until They Told You What it Did to Rachel": and you never even thought about it, / never once considered / how your offhand comparison / to those who had slaughtered / her aunts and uncles / in Dachau, Auschwitz, Treblinka // discounted unfathomable loss, / trivializing her heartbreak / with your careless use / of that one small word. / Tonight, dark trains clatter / the tracks of your dreams.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
One Hundred Steps' First Review
"Within the ever-growing population of poetry, Jenifer Browne Lawrence is a voice to follow, for in the following one will be amazed for all the brightness achieved amidst shadow."
Here's the full review from Rattle: Poetry for the 21st Century:
review by: Natasha Kochicheril Moni
ONE HUNDRED STEPS FROM SHORE
by Jenifer Browne Lawrence
Blue Begonia Press, 225 S. 15 th Avenue, Yakima, WA 98902; ISBN-13: 978-0-911287-56-1 (pbk.: alk.paper), ISBN-10: 0-911287-56-6 (pbk.: alk.paper), 79pp., $15.00 www.bluebegoniapress.com
In photography, the technique of burning an image is employed to darken what may otherwise appear too light or under-exposed. To dodge stands for the reverse, as in lightening an overexposed item thereby rendering more crisp. Jenifer Browne Lawrence's first collection One Hundred Steps From Shore, demonstrates the poetic equivalent of dodging and burning. Through the vehicle of explored memory, Lawrence provides a lucid picture of what keeps/distorts in the presence of grief.
Dark, his eyes
spark memories that crack
like the chocolate coating
on soft-dipped cones we mouthed
on our trips to town--how the hard shell
flaked off, where vanilla pushed out
dripping, how it had to be licked at once,
before any of it touched our skin.
(from "Replacing the Deck")
Lyrically masterful yet spare, Lawrence invites her readers to witness as in these lines from the title piece "One Hundred Steps from Shore":
The policeman asks what I saw, what I heard.
He wants to know if I heard a screech.
I tell him no, just a thud and I ran to see
and I saw her. He asks me what I saw,
what I heard. I tell him I smelled pennies.
The characters in Lawrence's poems continue their attempts to rescue--mallards, garter snakes, a porcupine "in my shirt mews and mews / how did I come to be / the ferryman burying over / and over the same stick in the water" (from "Porcupine Child") as they cope with the loss of the young Carolyn. And with this impulse "The lesson has been passed through / generations like a relay baton: We do not save each other." (from "Making Out") But there is more than the relationship of family-to-family, "Learning To Paint" (section 3) is thick with growing up in Valdez, Alaska while "Tales From the 20 th Century" (section 4) revises the story of love.
One Hundred Steps From Shore, as with skilled creative nonfiction, achieves the delicate, critical balance between personal/universal with grace and precision. Lawrence creates a world within each quarter slice of her collection, drawing light where necessary:
Once, she thought she was going to do it,
hold her breath exactly forever,
but she awoke with a leaf on her chest,
dizzy and missing her mom.
(from “A Cottonwood Leaf Can Be Taken Apart”)
A sensory experience, One Hundred Steps From Shore speaks to an audience in the language of layered tongues. Within the ever-growing population of poetry, Jenifer Browne Lawrence is a voice to follow, for in the following one will be amazed for all the brightness achieved amidst shadow.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
One Hundred Steps in the News
One Hundred Steps was recently listed in the top five paperbacks sold by Eagle Harbor Books.
Also, the poem "It was Snowing and it was going to Snow" is going to be in an anthology called "Poem, Revised-- A behind-the-scenes look at writing poetry". Marion Street Press will publish the book in 2008. Several versions of the poem together with a kind of running commentary on how the changes came about will be printed in their entirety.
Check back soon for more information on Jenifer's upcoming readings and a video of her first reading from the book at the Poulsbohemian.
Monday, November 13, 2006
100 Steps from Shore at Eagle Harbor Books
John Willson introducing the poets
Jenifer reads from her book
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Upcoming Readings for Jenifer Lawrence
(*click links for more information)
October 21, 2006, 7pm Poulsbohemian Coffeehouse,
(maybe you can follow her around in a van like a Deadhead...a JenHead?)
November 12, 2006, 3pm
June 2, 2007, 7pm Poulsbohemian Coffeehouse,
Saturday, October 07, 2006
The Secret Language in the news
From Kim Nowacki the Yakima Herald Republic:(click for entire article)
The book is a warm, candid and insightful memoir of the nonverbal traditions -- gesture, habit, disposition -- that pass among women. Martin's prose is subtle in its power to relate what connects a mother and child, sisters, friends and romantic relationships.
---
Martin conveys with a poignant but astute observance, the wide-eyed wonderment and reckless abandonment of childhood, as well as the perils of growing older and then finally solace, and where to find it.
"It's absolutely the best work I can do at this point in my life," she says.
"So now it's a blank page again."
Friday, September 29, 2006
One Hundred Steps from Shore
| Jenifer Browne Lawrence reading Red Shrine from her debut book from Blue Begonia Press Please join Jenifer and Blue Begonia Press for a special book launch reading and celebration, Saturday, October 21st, at the Poulsbohemian Coffehouse. for more information and to order, visit Blue Begonia Press *Correction to the credits: Cover Design by Craig Naugle. | |
The Secret Language of Women
| Terry Martin reads from her new book, "The Secret Language of Women". Please join Terry and Blue Begonia Press for a special book launch and reading, Saturday, October 7th, 7pm at Oak Hollow Gallery in Yakima. | |
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Monday, August 07, 2006
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Weathered Pages and Terry Martin
Jewel Box Theatre, 225 Iverson St., Poulsbo, WA 98370,
contact Jenifer Lawrence at jewelboxpoets@comcast.net
Coming up on September 17, 2006
Terry Martin and the Weathered Pages Poets.
Terry Martin is the author of The Secret Language of Women, just out from Blue Begonia Press. Says Lucinda Roy of Terry’s work: “…Terry Martin paints a portrait of a world in which the most crucial language is often wordless and mystical. In these powerful poems, the sublime is housed within the domestic: kitchens are cathedrals, and the geometry of rituals sustained by women teach us how to sing. Even as she acknowledges the transience and fragility of all things, Martin finds constancy in the patience of boulders, and locates hope in the brilliant firelight of the firefly. This is a collection about what we dare to love and what dares to love us back. It’s a celebration of the many paths we take as we edge toward the warm, the changing light.
In addition, this program will bring together several writers from the Weathered Pages Anthology.
A six-foot cedar post, the word POETRY carved on both the east and west sides, planted in a garden on a street corner in Yakima, pushpins stuck in the wood. For ten years, hundreds of people have pinned thousands of poems to the Poetry Pole at Blue Begonia Press. After time in the weather, the pages have been taken down and saved—until now. This book includes over 200 poems by poets from all corners of the country and from around the world, who have joined poets from Yakima in posting their work. Some contributors are being published here for the first time; others are internationally known. Poems collected here represent a decade of testimony pinned and flying from a cedar post planted in a garden. They may trigger what you're looking for in your own life.
There is room on the Poetry Pole for everybody.
October 15 brings to the Jewel Box--Kevin Miller and Joseph Green, outstanding Washington poets, and November 19 features the last program of the year with the fiery wit of Jeannine Hall Gailey, reading with Seattle poet Judith Skillman.
The Jewel Box Poets are taking December off to shop, wrap, rest and plan for 2007. The first reading of the new year will be held Sunday, January 21, 2007.
